But if the Celtic manager can withstand the thugs and stay for the long haul, Hartson believes Lennon can lead his men to 10 in a row and take his place in history beside the great Jock Stein.

After last weekend saw Aberdeen fans spit and throw coins at Lennon in the latest in a shameful litany of attacks on the Northern Irishman, Hartson would understand if he opted to leave Scotland in search of a more peaceful life.

But having spent five years sitting beside him in the Celtic dressing room Hartson knows better than most the strength of Lennon’s character and his love for the club he now leads.

And Hartson reckons the legendary status Lennon could command by sticking around to deliver success for a generation might be the motivation that stops him from seeking pastures new.

Hartson said: “With this latest incident at Tynecastle you would wonder how much more Neil can take.

“He’s had threats to his life, he’s had bombs through his letterbox, he’s been beaten up on a public street and abused at games as we saw last weekend.

“I know he’s strong willed and he’s a strong character because I sat next to Neil in that Celtic dressing room for five years. But you just wonder.

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“He loves his job, it’s a dream role for him having captained the club and played six or seven years there.

“He’s at a special place where he would have to seriously consider his options before moving because he loves it there.

“But with all the outside animosity and the problems that come up you wonder if Neil would have a gut full of it at some stage.

“It quite possibly would have broken weaker men by now. When he talks about having a 24-hour bodyguard that’s no way to live your life.

“I’m living in a nice area of Swansea. I can take my dogs for a walk, I can go to my village pub to have a couple of pints and I can play darts on a Monday night with the lads and I don’t get any threats.

“I’ve got a fantastic life and Neil is just trying to get on with his. He’s proud and feels privileged to be in the position he’s in as Celtic manager but for Neil that comes with problems all the time.

“You do wonder how much he can take. You’d have to ask Neil what his aspirations are but if he stays there is a lot he can still achieve with Celtic.

“Rangers are not going to be back for another two or three years so by then Celtic could have six titles in a row and breaking the record to win 10 in a row would be a realistic target.

“He could make himself an absolute legend along the same lines of Jock Stein or Walter Smith at Rangers.

“In 50 years no one will question Neil’s title wins and say, ‘Ah but Rangers were out of the league at that point’.

“He’d just be Neil Lennon, the boss who won 10 in a row.

“Gordon Strachan won three in a row but the history books don’t add that Rangers were a poor side under Paul Le Guen and dropping Barry Ferguson as captain. He just goes down as a three-in-a-row manager.

“They tell me when Rangers won nine in a row they were very strong and splashing the cash on the Paul Gascoigne, Brian Laudrup, Richard Gough and Graeme Souness’s of this world. No one stresses the fact Rangers were in a stronger place as a club than Celtic.

“So Neil may well be thinking along those lines, knowing long term he can break all kinds of records.

“But right now his priority is a tough Scottish Cup tie against Aberdeen who have improved under Derek McInnes.

“And the challenge is now to go unbeaten all season in the league and do the Double.”

Hartson was speaking at the launch of his foundation’s celebrity charity golf challenge that aims to raise money to help fight testicular cancer. And the former Wales and Celtic striker said one of the most baffling aspects of Lennon’s stormy time in Scotland is the widely peddled notion the Hoops boss brings abuse upon himself.

That he somehow courts controversy and must therefore share blame when idiots attack him.

Hartson added: “How does he bring it on himself? Last weekend he went to watch the opposition he was playing the following week. Sitting with some of his staff talking tactics – so how does that bring attacks on himself?

“People say it goes back to his playing days when he was narky on the pitch but he doesn’t deserve it. As a manager you have to move away from how you were as a player. Look at Terry Butcher – a different character now to when he was a player.

“He was a monster. He’d have taken your head off. He was an animal when he crossed that white line.

“As a manager you have to temper that and Neil, although quite irate as a manager at the start, has certainly calmed down.

“He sits down a lot now – you wouldn’t have seen that in his first few years as he was up and down all the time. He’s matured into the job.

“So I don’t buy into the chat you bring it on yourself. There was no one worse than myself when I played in terms of physicality.

“I used to get stick and get booed but in management there has to be an element of respect.

“Yes, give people stick but what he’s had to put up with is ridiculous.”

? Hartson was at The Carrick on Loch Lomond, which will host the Hoops favourite’s celebrity golf challenge on Tuesday, March 18. For exclusive sponsorship package details contact fundraising manager Libby Emmerson on 07961 543254.